The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-01-08

and trying. as l spoke, to raise one OF
the windows. To my relief, it Welded.
and, as it was low, Itad no difficulty
IN climbing in myself and lifting in
Il went through the lower part Of
the house and found every thing pain
luliy neat. orderly and desolate. In
the'kitchen was M of those by-gone
works of art, a Bay State stove. Be-
sides this, the room contained chairs.
a table, a ~chintz-covered lounge and
an o~ld.fashioned clock, the latter of
which l set going for company, and
then kindlcd a fire in the stove. When
we were warm l explored the pantry
for something to cat. Alas! For nv
anticipation of apple pies, buttermilk
cookies and long rows of milk pans
with creamy yellow surface. Every
tn,hg was bare and empty. There were
piles OF picturesque blue crockery, en-
belllshed with the most astonishing de-
Signs, and all the other paraphernalia
suited to the place, clean, orderly and
empty. had a few cakes in my bag,
which had brought for Robbie lunch
on the way, and these | gave him
TOR his supper, making up my mind
that, in the morning. l would try and
ind the nearest neighbor.
meantime, the short wintry twilight
had closed into darkness, and the fields
were already white with snow. | found
a piece OF candle, but did not light it.,
lest we should need it more at some flu
ture time. So l lay down on the old
chintz sofa, with Robbie clasped close
in my arms, and we both soon fell
asleep. When | awoke the room Law
in a gray twilight, while the storm
still ragged furiously without. Cropping
my way to a window, for a glance at
the weather, | discovered that the win
dow was blocked up with an embank-
ment of snow, and that the other two
were in a similar ~predicament, a small
aperture at the top of one of them let
ting in a few rays of light. Then, and
only then, did the real horror of our
situation present itself to me. We were
in danger Of starvation! The house
stood in a hollow, and the snow had
drifted down from the ncighboring
hills, making escape impossible. In
my agony | had no hope that my
friends would find us out; | had COW
cred our tracks too cleverly. No
earthly help seemed likely to reach US,
and there, in the gray light Of the New
Year morning, l fell upon my knees
and sobbed out Il prayer to HIM who
see us wherever we are, for help and
forgiveness.
my dears. | can never forget that
New Years Day! How Robbie begged
for food, and | half starved, had before
me the vision of q well-set table, with
all the d~elicacies which always graced
Il board at home to whet my appetite;
how, when the wood was gone | broke
up the chairs and burned them; and
how the candle. which l had lighted
to please Robbie, burned low in its
socket, and finally left us in the semi
darkness which never frightened into
noon. All day long the storm ragged
%furiously. l could hear the hollow
moan of the wind, and the sweep OF
the snow as it drifted still higher
against the house. l had little time
for reflection, however, for it took all
my ingenuity to amuse Robbie, who,
hungry and frightened, begged con-
stantly to be taken home. All that
long, wrctched day l told stories, sang
songs, and played games with him,
while | comforted him and myself ever
and anon with the o~ft-repeated fable:
Aunt Delilah will come Tomorrow
''Just before night-fall he fell asleep,
and l walked restlessly up and down
the room, planning ways of escape
from my s~elf-sought prison. But all
my schemes, on second thought. APP
peared impracticable. To burrow
through these drifts, with Robbie in
my arms, was impossible; we should
both perish. Had the house been on
the highway, there would have been a
chance that soon or late we might hail
some passing traveller. But, alas! l
remembered that only the roof was
visible from that standpoint. Long /
pondered over the embers of the last
chair; rarking my tortured brain for a
suggestion which might solve the prob
lem of our deliverance; but in vain.
At last the GOODNESS of the atmosphere
drove me into the next room in search
of more chairs or other combustible
material. This apartment contained.
among other articles Of furniture. an
old-fashioncd bureau. Its brass trim
mings cleaned through the darkness,